Accounting career advice

[KalMaverick]

As HavocXphere said while technically possible it is very unlikely. I just cannot really see someone passing CTA without a solid understanding of the basics.

Dont know if this will help, but maby you can go CIMA --> CA:

If I understand correctly you still have to do your CTA and the QE 1 exam. How likely is it someone will be able to pass that as well as what university is going to accept non-CA stream students for their CTA?

It also still requires someone to do at least part of their articles and if you have a job already it might be tough leaving that job and going down to article's salary.

 

[Ron.Burgundy]

Also not sure where one is supposed to get the CIMA practical hours from.

Found this on Stellenbosch's site:

"Thousands of organisations employ CIMA students and members, many in the knowledge that their businesses will benefit from the financial expertise and strategic vision that Chartered Management Accountants possess. Many of these companies ensure they gain optimum benefit by supporting their employees through CIMA training. The following is a selection of organisations that have achieved CIMA training status and therefore offer the best training and support:

Anglo American Platinum; Coca-Cola Fortune (Pty) Ltd; Department of Finance and Economic Development; HSBC Bank plc; Impala Platinum Ltd; JP Morgan Chase; Nestle SA (Pty) Ltd; Siemens Ltd; South African Broadcasting Corporation; Standard Bank; Toyota SA Motors (Pty) Ltd; Unilever SA (Pty) Ltd; Volkswagen SA."

http://academic.sun.ac.za/accounting/cima.html

 

[HavocXphere]

Found this on Stellenbosch's site:

No friend you miss my point. In order to get the exempts that crab posted above you'd first have to be a CIMA member...which you're not unless you've got relevant practical experience. That time spent acquiring said experience would have to be added to the total time, so the entire thing doesn't work as a shortcut to CA...it would be faster to go straight for CA without exemptions. Of course for already has full CIMA accreditation it might be faster, hence me saying:
>Might help someone, but I doubt it could help OP

 

[Johnone]

Not really. You'd essentially have to do everything over, minus perhaps a credit here & there (if any).

As cheerful as KalMav's video sounds, in the real world things don't always go very smoothly & pretty much every route departing from the straight forward normal route results in some kind of heavy penalty. e.g. I've seen people being forced to redo a years worth of modules...despite switching from one uni's CA stream program to another's CA program...and that was switching from the top ranked uni to a mid ranked one. They also don't let anyone transfer into the CA program during studies from related fields (e.g. internal auditing) - they have zero hope of catching up.

With CIMA its possible to do a bridging course because you only need to catch up on financial management. Here you'd need to catch up on 4 subjects (or 3 if by some miracle they give you full credit for your existing FinMngmt/Taxation degree)

I'd encourage you to go for it - just be aware that there isn't going to be anything "transitional" about it - you'll essentially be starting from scratch.

Also remember...uni stuff aside...you need to actually pass the board exams.

Just fyi: I see UCT offers a bridging course for those who wish to complete their CTA but doesn't have an accountancy degree. http://www.commerce.uct.ac.za/accounting/programs/Acc_Convers_Course/

It is full-time only, unfortunately.

Unisa, supposedly, will start their Advance Accountancy diploma bridging course in 2014. But we'll have to wait till November to see what it entails. (In November the 2014 syllabus will be available).

 

[zippy]

my advice to any budding accountants is that its equivalent to getting a frontal lobotomy, but without the medical expenses.